Help with keeping my cool when meeting players?

[JJ_ 5]

Long story short, my thought process is very logical. Usually in FPS games i can "outsmart" another player, because i can think the situation from their perspective, and guess where they would move next for example.

 

But when i'm playing DayZ, right when i meet another player, my mind is just blank. I don't have any kind of strategy in case of things go wrong.

I guess you could say i panic a bit.

 

 

Do you guys have any tips to get me calm down in player interaction situations?

[Mos1ey 6301]

Play a load of Arma Wasteland. You get used to the intense PvP pretty quickly. :)

[Kaboki 62]

Observe the behavior of the people you meet, often the 'tone' in their voice says alot. Don't trust people at all if they have their weapons drawn ready to fire or their axe up. If they have booth weapons on their back you can trust them a little more but not 100%. If you meet guys with a tick russian accent yelling 'friendly, friendly, friendly, friendly ' while dancing around like crazy with an axe in their hand, shoot on sight or there is a 100% chance you will see a black screen pretty soon with the message 'your dead'!!

 

Also where on the map you meet people also can be some indication of their freindlyness, in hotzones like airfields you just have to assume that they are gonna kill you(most of the time)

But there is never anything that can make you 100% sure, you just need to take the risk sometimes....

It also helps that you also have your weapons on your back to take away a little of the paranoia from the person you meet, because you atleast appear more friendly that way. Never trust anyone with a clown mask haha

 

These are just some of my observations and expirience in the game so far, god luck finding friendlys.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Kaboki

[alsmir 255]

Long story short, my thought process is very logical. Usually in FPS games i can "outsmart" another player, because i can think the situation from their perspective, and guess where they would move next for example.

 

But when i'm playing DayZ, right when i meet another player, my mind is just blank. I don't have any kind of strategy in case of things go wrong.

I guess you could say i panic a bit.

 

 

Do you guys have any tips to get me calm down in player interaction situations?

 

Practice, practice, practice.

 

After 2 years of DayZ mod I still get adrenaline rush in most of PvP situations but I'm able to think straight and do right things even if afterwards I realize that me hands are shaking.

[yorkmorgan 191]

Never start yelling friendly! In my experience it only ever creates more anxiety and the terrifying thing about dayz player interactions is that they can escalate so damn quickly into violence.

 

 

Before interacting:

Try to quickly make an assessment of the player by what they're wearing and whether their weapon is drawn. If someones wearing a payday mask and moving around with an m4 equipped you can be pretty sure they're up to no good. 

Whereas if they are wearing a beanie, a checkered shirt and a courier backpack and are jogging along the road with their weapon put away its more likely they are RPing and will be willing to interact peacefully.

At this stage either shot at them, leave them be and let them pass (this is the option that will keep you alive the longest but thats also the dullest) or make contact.

 

Take your time making an assessment. If you have a good spot and they are not coming directly towards you its alot of fun to just sit tight and observe them for a while, knowing that they are completely oblivious to you. You can even stalk them for kicks.

 

Making Contact:

Once you have made contact make a your next assessment based on what they say and by their body language (you may think thats a joke but if the person is constantly raising and lowering their weapon, or is trying to get very close to you/corner you, or is just generally moving around in a fidgety way they're probably bad news). If they start yelling friendly like a madman they are very likely not.  If they are initially friendly and chatty and then go completely silent and only talk when spoken to be very wary, they might be talking to friends that may be about to ambush you (happened to me once). Essentially if they start talking and acting like an actual human being then you are probably OK. You would be amazed at how accurately you can read a person by the way they talk and the way they move their in game character around. If you get a bad feeling about them DON'T give the benefit of the doubt if you want to survive!

 

If you decide your not happy and if they are armed i would just kill them. It sounds harsh but 90% of the time if they're acting weird its gonna be them or you. After about twenty minutes or so interacting if the person has done nothing suspect and your getting along well you are probably safe. If they were going to attack you they probably would have done it by then.

 

Last thing to note is if they are friendly but don't have a weapon it doesn't mean they will be friendly when they have a weapon! I died too many times making that mistake. If they find a weapon while your together be very, very vigilant for the next 10 mins or so and if their talking or body language changes then i would take them out.

 

Good luck out there.

Edited June 16, 2014 by YorkMorgan

[JJ_ 5]

 

Thanks! There's a ton of advise.

I'm just gonna write down some main points and when i see someone, i'll take a deep breath and take a glance at the notes :P

 

 

After 2 years of DayZ mod I still get adrenaline rush in most of PvP situations but I'm able to think straight and do right things even if afterwards I realize that me hands are shaking.

We're all in this together...

Welp, i guess it's just back to the game then,

[TyrDaishi 36]

DayZ Dictionary

Word of the Day: Friendly

 

In the old days friendly was a term that gave you that warm fuzzy feeling in your belly. Remember the days with hot chocolate around camp fires with your friends? Or the friendly soccer games where middle aged woman would pray on young single dads while their daughters played a "friendly" game of soccer? Well guess what.

 

Those days are over boi. The word friendly means now that a 12 year old russian kid will scream at you while his 45 year old dead sneaks up to you with a screwdiver and trys to stab you in the neck. The word friendly means now that even hollywoodstars like morgan freeman will get robbed of... well his freedom as well as other... bodily fluids. Check here for proof: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy5OkG7_WR07nbgkDLDXZYQ

 

Friendly in this new world means that even the zombies learned to scream friendly with a french-russian accent to lure in newspawned bambi-pray.

 

SO BEWARE. In Order to stay alive you will need to become a hunter, the beast who will rip apart others just for a can of beans. So if you meet players, meet them right between the eyes. Problem solved.

 

If that fails at the first attempt try the so called "tactical breathing" (yes, it really is named that way and I would like to rip off the balls from whoever thought of this cringe worthy bs name).

 

It goes as followed and can help you to get rid of the anxiety as well as get your mind of the danger for a few moments:

 

• Inhale through your nose, deeply, expanding your stomach for a count of four – one, two, three, four.
• Hold that breath in for a count of four – one, two, three, four.
• Slowly exhale through your mouth, completely, contracting your stomach for a count of four – one, two, three, four.
• Hold the empty breath for a count of four – one, two, three, four.

Happy Hunting my friend, and may your weapon never jam at a critical moment.

Edited June 16, 2014 by TyrDaishi

[Kaboki 62]

 

I'm just gonna write down some main points and when i see someone, i'll take a deep breath and take a glance at the notes :P

 

Before you even have read the first sentence in your 'notes' looking away from the screen, your probably dead, there is no time to read notes while interacting with a player.... :lol:

[blacklabel79 949]

NEVER under NO CIRCUMSTANCES give strangers ammo, never ever ever...

 

Thats Rule Nr. 2

 

*anyways...my Hardcore char now is somewhat over-weaponized i only Play with some groupmembers are on. iam way way too paranoid to loose all that crap i probably dont Need*

Edited June 16, 2014 by {Core}BlackLabel

[yorkmorgan 191]

Thanks! There's a ton of advise.

I'm just gonna write down some main points and when i see someone, i'll take a deep breath and take a glance at the notes :P

 

Thats alright. I should point out that when the shit actually does hit the fan and bullets start flying at me i become a shivering nervous wreck that can't hit a zombie 5 feet away with an AK...

So any tips i might give about how to calm down in a firefight would be very hypocritical :D

[[Outcasts]Massacre 121]

Stop caring about yout character... life or die, it makes no differance, it's not important.. Once you get in that frame of mind things become a lot easyer...

[TyrDaishi 36]

Stop caring about yout character... life or die, it makes no differance, it's not important.. Once you get in that frame of mind things become a lot easyer...

 

Right... because ignorance solves problems since like... forever. Just sayin'

Edited June 16, 2014 by TyrDaishi

[rickyriot 1009]

Imagine them naked. It's what I do, both in DayZ and in real life when at work. At work I can get really flustered and worried that I'll make a mistake but if I just imagine everyone else naked then those feelings go away. It worked so well that I was voted the best teacher at my school last year.

[yorkmorgan 191]

Imagine them naked. It's what I do, both in DayZ and in real life when at work. At work I can get really flustered and worried that I'll make a mistake but if I just imagine everyone else naked then those feelings go away. It worked so well that I was voted the best teacher at my school last year.

lol, im surprised that works in a video game. And you probably shouldn't tell your students your imagining them naked all the time...

[yorkmorgan 191]

Stop caring about yout character... life or die, it makes no differance, it's not important.. Once you get in that frame of mind things become a lot easyer...

When i stop caring about my characters i give the game a break. Its only fun when i'm constantly on edge.

[spartacusrex 88]

I try to adhere to the "Don't get too attached to your character" mentality when it comes to encounters. I try to move as stealthily as possible, always with a M4 drawn because I keep my Mosin on my back and I always try to maintain the upper hand in any encounter.

 

Unless I've got my Press Vest and Engraved 1911, then I am very averse to encounters. I only fire if fired upon, generally keep my distance, evade, run or tell them to move along.

[zecele 211]

My one bit of advice:

 

If their Russian shoot.

[Kaboki 62]

My one bit of advice:

 

If their Russian shoot.

 

Noooo, wrong, not every Russian are unfriendly, I have had many friendly encounters with Russians and there are just as many friendly Russians as there are friendlies from other countries. But  If you meet guys with a tick russian accent yelling 'friendly, friendly, friendly, friendly ' while dancing around like crazy with an axe in their hand, just shoot on sight because that guy aint gonna be friendly:p.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Kaboki

[hotcakes 348]

COMRADE MUSTN'T WORRY I HAVE SOLUTION!

 

TALK IN TENSE OF PLURAL ALL TIME EMPHASIZED SO ENEMY THINK THEY DIE WHEN YOU ARE GANK.

Edited June 16, 2014 by hotcakes

[Coltz 5]

Noooo, wrong, not every Russian are unfriendly, I have had many friendly encounters with Russians and there are just as many friendly Russians as there are friendlies from other countries. But  If you meet guys with a tick russian accent yelling 'friendly, friendly, friendly, friendly ' while dancing around like crazy with an axe in their hand, just shoot on sight because that guy aint gonna be friendly:p.

When I encounter one of these or people I am not too sure to trust I just yell " I am hostile Hostile Hostile" after a few sec I'll hose them down. Even if they were friendly, I gave them a very fair warning. I only interact with people I believe is freindly or completely hostile, never the ones on the fence lol.

[Macdeth 176]

pvp in dayz can be a stressful experience an really it comes down to how you cope with stress, you can learn to stay calm but if you are a nervey or panicky sort of bloke you will always struggle.

 

I spent 5 years in the army so staying relaxed, calm and collected in stressful situations comes natural and I actually find my focus improves when the shooting starts and I seem to have loads of time to make decisions, time seems to slow down and my senses become more alert and aware of my options. I don't always get it right but I do always stay calm and in control of my actions.

 

 

[Kaboki 62]

Yep that's so true, panick makes you take bad decisions and everything goes wrong at the same time, so that's great advice. If one can control panick in PvP situations(or in other real life stressful situations for that matter) everything just goes so much better.

 

Little offtopic... I like your Stalin quotes BTW :P , no matter what one thinks about him, he said so many things that are just so true... Like "one man's death is a tragedy a million is a statistic", and he's right, because when we see a big hunger catastrophe on TV and millions of people die nobody really grieves, but if one man dies that maybe is a little closer to home(not necceserly a related person) people get more upset...

Edited June 16, 2014 by Kaboki

[execpro22 128]

Imagine them naked. It's what I do, both in DayZ and in real life when at work. At work I can get really flustered and worried that I'll make a mistake but if I just imagine everyone else naked then those feelings go away. It worked so well that I was voted the best teacher at my school last year.

 

 

sick, how old are these students you imagine naked ?

[Macdeth 176]

 

Yep that's so true, panick makes you take bad decisions and everything goes wrong at the same time, so that's great advice. If one can control panick in PvP situations(or in other real life stressful situations for that matter) everything just goes so much better.

 

Little offtopic... I like your Stalin quotes BTW :P , no matter what one thinks about him, he said so many things that are just so true... Like "one man's death is a tragedy a million is a statistic", and he's right, because when we see a big hunger catastrophe on TV and millions of people die nobody really grieves, but if one man dies that maybe is a little closer to home(not neccearly a related person) people get more upset...

 

 

stalin was no mug, you don't get to control a country like Russia unless you know how to manipulate, dominate and control others with words and deeds.

 

Back on topic staying calm is everything in a game like dayz, it really matters because situations often come out of nothing. 2 hours of bumbling around the forest not a care in the world then suddenly PLAYER!!!

 

it's something everyone needs to work on because I don't care how good you are at twitch gameplay an all that, its always calmness that prevails, if you find yourself jumping out of your seat and feel your heart exploding out of your chest and all your thoughts becoming scrambled whule you struggle to control your breathing and the other guy is slowly moving towards cover while switching to his rifle....you are probably about to die.

[bain 23]

Stop caring about yout character... life or die, it makes no differance, it's not important.. Once you get in that frame of mind things become a lot easyer...

That's the best advice on this whole topic. Emotional states impair you in every way. It's not about not caring and thus acting coldly or dangerously. Rather it's about detaching your emotions from the situation so your logic and reasoning remain clean.

Cpt. Spears ftw.